Transfers Between Your Own Bank Accounts: Why They Get Double-Counted, and How to Book Them

By Di Ma, Project Manager 26 OCT 2026 · 4 MIN READ

You move HK$50,000 from your HSBC account to Airwallex to pay a supplier. Nothing was bought, nothing was sold, the company is not a cent richer or poorer. And yet this is one of the most common ways small-company books go wrong — because the same transfer shows up twice, on two different bank statements, often processed on different days by different people.

Why one transfer turns into two

The HSBC statement shows −HK$50,000, "Transfer to Airwallex". The Airwallex statement shows +HK$50,000, "Transfer from HSBC". Each statement is booked on its own, and each line needs another side to its entry. That is where it goes wrong:

The receipt is booked as income. HK$50,000 of "sales" that never happened — profit overstated, and possibly tax paid on it.
The payment is booked as an expense. The mirror image: costs overstated, profit understated.
Both lines are booked against the other bank account. This one looks right line by line — HSBC to Airwallex, Airwallex from HSBC — but because each statement books the whole transfer, it is recorded twice: HSBC is reduced by HK$100,000 and Airwallex increased by HK$100,000, and neither bank account reconciles to its statement.

The first two distort the profit. The third distorts the balance sheet. All three are invisible until someone reconciles the bank accounts — often at the year end, when the audit starts.

The fix: a clearing account

The clean way is to give each statement exactly one job: record what happened to that account. The other side goes to a clearing account (also called a transit or suspense-for-transfers account) instead of straight to the other bank:

HSBC statement · 3 Nov Transfer to Airwallex −HK$50,000 Dr Interbank Transfer Clearing 50,000
Cr HSBC 50,000

Interbank Transfer Clearing Dr (from HSBC)50,000 Cr (to Airwallex)(50,000) Balance0 ✓

Airwallex statement · 3 Nov Transfer from HSBC +HK$50,000 Dr Airwallex 50,000
Cr Interbank Transfer Clearing 50,000

One transfer, two statements. Each statement books only its own bank account against the clearing account; once both are in, the clearing account is back to zero — no income, no expense, nothing counted twice. An illustration with example figures.

When both statements are in, the clearing account is back to zero. It does not matter which statement is processed first, or whether they are booked a week apart: each one only ever moves its own bank account.

The clearing account doubles as a check. A balance left on it means one side of a transfer is missing — a statement not yet imported, or a transfer booked somewhere else. At a month end it can legitimately hold money in transit (sent on the 31st, arrived on the 1st), but that should clear within days.

Transfers in different currencies

A transfer from a USD account to an HKD account is a conversion, and the two amounts are different: USD 10,000 out, HK$78,050 in, say. Book both at what actually moved — the USD at the rate it was carried at, the HKD at the amount received — and the difference is an exchange gain or loss, not income or expense (see multi-currency bookkeeping). When the conversion happens inside one platform, such as an Airwallex wallet, both legs are on the same statement and can be booked as a single entry. Any conversion fee is a bank charge, booked separately.

Other transfers that look like income or spending

Paying the company credit card from the bank. The spending was already booked from the card statement. The repayment just reduces what the company owes the card — it is not a second expense.
Moving money between a payment platform and the bank. Stripe, PayPal or Wise payouts to your bank are transfers, not new sales — the sales were recorded when the customers paid.
Money from a director's personal account. This is not an own-account transfer: it is the director lending to or paying for the company, and belongs on the director's current account.

Checks that catch a broken transfer

Every bank account reconciles to its statement at the month end.
The clearing account is zero, or explained by money in transit.
Revenue contains nothing described as "transfer from", "top up" or your own company name.
Expenses contain no "transfer to" lines and no card repayments.

How Certanta handles it

Transfers between your own accounts are recognised and routed through a clearing account, so each statement only moves its own bank — and importing both sides nets to zero instead of counting the money twice.
Currency conversions are booked directly between the two currency accounts, at the amounts that actually moved — a conversion inside one platform as a single entry — and any difference against the rate the currency was carried at goes to exchange gain or loss.
Each bank line is booked as a balanced pair and posted together, and a bookkeeper signs it off.
No receipts asked for your own money. Transfers between your own accounts never appear on your to-do list as "missing receipt" — the bank statement is the evidence.

Daily feeds from connected accounts such as Airwallex, and monthly statement upload for traditional banks, both go through the same matching — see pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Is a transfer between my own bank accounts income?

No. Moving money between two accounts the company owns changes where the money is, not how much the company has. It is neither income nor expense, and it should not appear in the profit and loss account.

Why does a transfer get double-counted?

Because it appears on two statements — as money out of one account and money into the other. If each statement is booked on its own and both lines are recorded as the full transfer between the two banks, the transfer is booked twice; if one side is coded as sales or expenses, profit is misstated.

What is a clearing account?

A temporary account that holds the other side of a transfer. Each bank statement books only its own account against the clearing account; when both sides are in, the clearing account returns to zero. A remaining balance points to a missing side or money still in transit.

How do I book a transfer between a USD and an HKD account?

As a currency conversion: record the USD that left and the HKD that arrived at the amounts that actually moved. The difference compared with the rate the USD was carried at is an exchange gain or loss. A conversion fee is a bank charge, booked separately.

Is paying the company credit card from the bank an expense?

No. The expenses were recorded from the card statement when the card was used. The repayment from the bank only reduces the amount owed on the card.

Is money from a director's personal account an own-account transfer?

No. A director's personal account is not the company's. Money in from a director is a loan from the director, or a repayment of what the company owed them, and belongs on the director's current account.

Transfers that book themselves — once

Certanta matches the two sides of every transfer between your own accounts, books conversions as one entry, and never asks you for a receipt for moving your own money.

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This article is general information about bookkeeping practice, not accounting or tax advice for your company.